Swakopmund - The secretary general of the Erongo Regional Netball Association, Foxy Afrikaner, has called on the private sector to come on board and help with funding for the sport.

Afrikaner said this in an interview with Nampa after the region’s netball team presented their Namibian Newspaper Cup trophy to Erongo Governor Cleophas Mutjavikua here on Tuesday.

The 19th edition of the Newspaper Cup took place in Mariental over the weekend and Erongo won the competition’s netball category, beating Khomas 45-28 in the final.

Afrikaner said Erongo is serious about netball and would like to take it to greater heights. The association however faces financial challenges.

“We would really like for netball to grow but we are finding it hard with the lack of funds needed for equipment and training gear and we would therefore like to call on the private sector to support us in this regard,” he said.

Team coach Bobbey Musambani expressed gratitude for the support from the office of the governor and the entire region during the tournament.

Team captains Cornelia Mupenda and Raulencia Ndakalako attributed the team's victory to teamwork, motivation and their team spirit.

“We basically ensure that everything we do, we do as a team at all times and we always motivated each other no matter how tough it got for us,” they said.

Mutjavikua said he is proud of the team.

“Discipline and team work played a major role in their victory. We could not be more proud of you, keep up the good work,” he said.

The governor also announced his office's pledge of R40,000 for the team, which will be shared by the players, coaches and manager. - Nampa

The Southern Times is a SADC regional newspaper which circulates throughout the Southern Africa region. Launched in September 2004, the newspaper is a 50-50 joint venture between New Era Publications Corporation of Namibia and Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) Limited. It seeks to report stories from a pan-African perspective, and promote Africa values with Africans telling their own stories from politics, business, arts, entertainment, culture, travel and tourism, and sports.

The Southern Times is headquartered in Windhoek, Namibia, and has offices in Harare, Zimbabwe. It has correspondents stationed in most of the 16-member SADC countries – from Angola to Zimbabwe - who contribute articles.